My name is Alistair Park and I'm a professional carver who is based in Bristol, England. I've been carving for over twenty-eight years and I also enjoy teaching my skills to people of all ages.
You'll find posts here about all kinds of things to do with carving; the work that I do, the people that I meet and the things that I see which inspire me.
Please feel free to comment on anything of interest, it'd be great to hear from you!
As well as this blog, I also have a website and Instagram page with lots more images of my work as well as a few more stories.
If you like woodcarvings, you might want to have a look.
Penny Brohn UK are a charity working with people who have cancer. They contacted me recently to ask if I could make an award to thank a remarkable person called Nina Barough for her hard work raising money for cancer charities. Among other things, Nina founded Walk the Walk events, which have been hugely successful. They have raised millions for organisations helping those affected by cancer. The folks at Penny Brohn were very keen to present her with a thank you gift carved using timber from a recently-cut Cedar of Lebanon in their grounds. It also had to be carved for a deadline in a month's time.
While cedar is a fairly stable wood as it seasons, using the green timber did mean that certain things had to be considered. Seasoning timber will move and change and the design had to take this into account. I normally carve timber that has been seasoned for much longer but I do also love a challenge! Slices were cut from the log, keeping the rings as close to being at right angles to the large surfaces as possible. This means that the seasoning wood moves mainly in one plane (at right angles to the rings), rather than warping all over the place.
The piece of wood wasn't really big enough to get a single large slab from, so I decided to join smaller bits together carefully. It took a few tests to find the best glue to use (Bostik Wood Adhesive) but eventually they glued well. I like the bands of differing colours through the timber.
After drawing the design that they had requested on to the timber directly, I started carving. The cedar carved very cleanly, even though many other softwoods don't.
The bands of colour worked nicely in the design as fields going into the distance. When the carving was completed, it looked good but I wanted to put a frame around it that would hold the cedar panel and account for any movement in seasoning. Some seasoned ash timber was ideal.
The frame has a small gap between it and the cedar, with the panel being held by four dowels (two at the top and two at the bottom) that aren't glued into it but are glued into the frame. This means that any movement in the cedar panel will just travel along the dowels and the assembly won't be weakened by the change. The finishing touch was a brass plaque with an inscription that was fixed to the frame.
A representative from Penny Brohn UK collected the plaque and seemed very happy with it. I suggested to her that it be hung somewhere away from direct sun and sources of heat such as radiators (to stop it drying too fast).
Apparently Nina was very happy to have received the award and it now hangs on her wall. Here's a photo from the award ceremony, kindly supplied by Penny Brohn UK and used with their permission:
The Bristol Music Club has been running for over a hundred years and specialises in hosting recitals of chamber music at its home in Clifton.
The Really Classical Relay was a three-day event at which an international group of very talented musicians played classical pieces in a relaxed environment. Children were welcome during the day and visitors could bring food and drink from the cafe into the room while they listened. It was a really nice atmosphere to be in, as you may imagine.
I was set up in the reception next door and spent the afternoon carving a relief portrait of Beethoven into ash timber (F. excelsior). In the evening, the carving was auctioned and the profits went towards the running of the event.
Of course there were times when a quiet piece of music required me to down tools for a bit, rather than crashing over it with some unexpected percussion using mallet and gouge! It was fun to do a relief portrait. I really enjoy the challenge of carving portraits; they aren't easy and anyone can spot if the likeness of a famous person is wrong. Happily, even without the chance to do any prior research and little reference material to work from, everyone spotted that this was Beethoven...
It was also great to see the beautiful reproductions of historical instruments such as the viol da gamba being played for some pieces. Another instrument that caught my eye was a Baroque oboe made from boxwood (B. sempervirens), similar to this one:
Recently, I met up with Edward Carefoot, who is seeking to travel as a craftsman inspired by the traditional German journeymen, who are sometimes called zimmermen.
After finishing an apprenticeship in antiques restoration in northern England, Edward wanted to follow a similar path. After some time in the Scilly Isles and in Herefordshire he was on the move again and phoned ahead of his visit to ask if it would be okay to meet up. He'd seen from my blog that I had spent a bit of time with craftsmen travelling in the tradition of the German guilds and wanted to discuss the plan and how it could work with carving. I wouldn't say that I'm any kind of authority on such things, never having actually travelled in the tradition myself. However, I'm also aware that I've spent more time in the company of journeymen (travelling in the German tradition) than many people in Britain and have been lucky enough to learn a little about their lives. It was very interesting to chat with Edward about his plans and the things that we spoke about seemed like they might interest others too (perhaps finishing an apprenticeship themselves), although I should say that the opinions expressed here are mine alone and may not be those of Edward or of my journeyman friends.
The tradition of the travelling journeyman has been largely lost in Britain. Probably thanks to events such as the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII or the rise to power of Cromwell and his Puritans later on, work for travelling craftspeople became harder to find in this country. Although British people do sometimes travel in the tradition of the German societies, it doesn't seem to be commonly done and also requires a good knowledge of the language that many British people sadly don't have.
Edward asked at one point if I considered the idea worth pursuing and the answer was a definite 'Yes!'
Meeting other craftspeople is one of the most fascinating things about this particular creative world and besides, without giving it a go he could never know if it was possible. He was ready to travel and hadn't had the opportunity to be introduced into the tradition by a travelling journeyman, so was going to give it a try independently. I did think that it would be good to keep some flexibility though. French and German journeymen have many traditions and customs that mean important things but without an experienced person to explain, they could sometimes be easily misinterpreted.
All of the journeymen that I have met had travelled for a period of time, at first, in the company of a much more experienced companion who could explain the customs to them and also give guidance on how to navigate through the travelling life. I did say to Edward that I felt that someone outside of the tradition (and without a good knowledge of the language) identifying themselves very strongly with it could potentially lead to misunderstanding in certain situations. It could be better not to seek to emulate but to create your own path, inspired by and with respect for theirs.
Journeymen in the German tradition don't carry phones. It seems a tough path for a British craftsperson, travelling alone initially, to take. Many people in this country aren't used to the ways of the German travelling tradition and turning up unannounced with nowhere to stay might not always be a good idea in more remote places, although it does open the door to receiving kindness from others. It also means that it is more important to be punctual and keep your word; useful skills for a craftsperson. However, other journeymen have told me that travelling in more out-of-the-way areas is often easier. With so many disused barns about and people more open to hitchhikers, it is not as difficult to travel and to find places to sleep. We also discussed having a website. It can be like a very useful portfolio and business card which can be updated. I haven't met any journeymen who have one but some sort of personal online gallery does seem like it could be a convenient alternative, for an independent travelling craftsperson, to travelling with a bundle of photos and papers that can easily be lost or damaged. German journeymen don't travel using their own transport but there could be reasons why this might not be so suitable for a lone British craftsperson. For one thing, a good antique restorer needs quite a few different tools. Finding work on the road might be a lot trickier without having all the proper kit already with you but that could be a sizeable amount of stuff: expensive to replace and not so easy to to carry without transport. Having a mobile workshop isn't the way of the journeyman travelling in the German tradition but it could make sense for some other travelling craftspeople. I did notice that the journeymen that I met were fairly flexible about taking on manual work outside of their particular training if it was on offer. A blacksmith would work on a timber framing project alongside more experienced colleagues. Their codes of practise make them good workers to have around and so they were welcome in other kinds of work too.
A visit to my workshop did give Edward a useful chance to sharpen his own chisels and gouges ready for the road.
It's a great project and I wish Edward every success on his travels. I'd certainly recommend him to anyone who is wondering what his work is like. I hope that you have also enjoyed these, my own thoughts on what the German travelling tradition could mean for an independent travelling craftsperson from Britain. Hopefully you can also see my respect for that tradition and I'd be interested to hear what others think. And if any other wood carvers are passing through Bristol, do feel free to get in touch! It's always great to have a chat.
It's always interesting to see what different students want from tutored woodcarving sessions. Some people like to be shown a few particular techniques and then to get on with practising them with some guidance if needed, whereas others want to try as many different things as possible in the day.
Both are fun be a part of, of course.My last session of tuition was definitely the latter and it was the first taught session in my lovely new workshop. I really enjoyed using some tools again that I don't use that frequently and discussing how to use them too.
One great thing about teaching one-to-one is that learners can use some of the power tools that I'd sometimes be wary of bringing out with a group. When things go wrong with power tools they can go wrong very quickly, so I like to be able to keep a close eye on things.
I wouldn't usually teach people to use certain tools such as chainsaws or Arbortechs in carving as they are potentially so dangerous to inexperienced users (or experienced ones!). Tools such as the scroll saw are a lot less aggressive and so I'm happy to use that occasionally.
Katya wanted to make some wooden frames for embroidered pieces that she had produced. First of all, I showed her how to use a panel saw (below) and a coping saw (first photo) properly. Cutting accurately by hand with a saw is a skill that anyone using wood should know. Electric saws are great, but occasionally only a hand saw can be used (when there's no electricity available, for example).
Katya was very happy with the piece that she produced using the scroll saw:
We also tried using a Dremel hand drill, an electric powered wood lathe and an electric drill. It was the first time that Katya had used any of them but I think that by the end of the session, the scroll saw was still the favourite! She also kindly let me use her photos in this blog post.
One thing that I love about Bristol is that, although it is not a big city, it can still surprise. After a while living here, I learnt about Bristol's own architectural style only a couple of weeks ago.
Bristol Byzantine came about in the mid to late nineteenth century and was generally used for industrial buildings and warehouses. One of the architects associated with it is Edward Godwin, who was born in Bristol.
Buildings on Victoria Street
35 King Street
The
style may have originated when William Venn Gough and Archibald
Ponton (who designed the Granary on Welsh Back which was built in
1869) met John Addington Symonds, a Bristol-born historian
of the Italian Renaissance. Some believe the name was coined by the architectural historian Sir John Summerson.
The Arnolfini (Bush House)
The style is heavily influenced by Byzantine and Moorish architecture from buildings in Venice and Istanbul and one building in particular, the Granary on Welsh Back, really shows the influence of Islamic architecture.
The Granary (or Walt and James' Granary)
Some characteristics of the Bristol Byzantine style include: windows that often have arched tops and are aligned in vertical columns on stories above the ground floor, a generally sturdy and robust appearance, rock-faced exterior walls on the ground floor and that the buildings are constructed using grey Pennant sandstone, yellow Bath limestone and/ or colourful bricks that were made from clay sourced from the Cattybrook brickpits near Almondsbury.
Not all buildings show all of these features but once you start looking, more and more buildings in Bristol show the unmistakable influence of Godwin and his colleagues.
Brunel building, Gardiner Haskins department store
Browns restaurant, formerly Bristol Museum
Many famous Bristolian landmark buildings are examples of Bristol Byzantine. Others include the Carriage Works on Stokes Croft and Clarks timber merchants in St Phillips.
Colston Hall
Even the iconic towers of the Clifton Suspension Bridge have features in common with Bristol Byzantine: robust design, arch-topped vertical columns. They were completed by Hawkshaw and Barlow in the mid nineteenth century, after Isambard Kingdom Brunel had died with the bridge still uncompleted. Brunel's original towers were to have been a much more elaborate mock-Egyptian style.
Recently, I wrote about the medieval tradition of 'turning the world upside down' and the way that it is portrayed in many misericord carvings, such as this one in Bristol cathedral.
The celebration of the 'Feast of Fools' was banned in England by Royal Proclamation in 1542 but in many other countries its spirit survives in the tradition of Carnival. The Feast of Fools was celebrated on or around the 1st January, but Carnival occurs before the traditional period celebrated by many Christian denominations and known as known as Lent. The word 'Carnival' means 'Farewell to the flesh', maybe because this was when all the meat had to be eaten before Lent. Lent covers the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter and it commemorates the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus as believed by Christians. During this time, believers will pray and fast or give up certain things such as meat or smoking. Non-Christians also sometimes use this period to try giving up things that they think are bad for them, such as alcohol.
The date varies as it is not set by a solar calendar, but Easter is on the first Sunday after the full moon which occurs on or most closely after the Spring Equinox (on the 21st March).The name 'Lent' comes from the Old English word 'Lencten' meaning 'Spring'. During Carnival, people have fun before the fasting and austerities of Lent, most people having heard of the famous Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. This year, I visited one in Tilburg, in the south of the Netherlands. It was very interesting to see the tradition of the 'world turned upside down' in practice.
Although Tilburg Carnaval isn't anything like the grand scale of these ones, it was a lot of fun! Of course, to investigate the tradition of the 'world turned upside down', one should be properly dressed and accompanied by experienced researchers:
Although Rotterdam (which is north of the two rivers that cross the Netherlands) has a two-day Summer Carnival based on Latin-style ones, most people that I spoke to said that it was only south of the rivers that the older style of Dutch Carnaval happens. This may be because in this area, the provinces of Brabant and Limburg, there is a Catholic tradition as opposed to a Protestant one. Historically the Protestants, as in Britain, disliked such frivolity associated with religious festivals and suppressed it.
One thing that I noticed was how everyone was wearing certain colours. Each town has its own Carnaval colours and in Tilburg they are orange and green (which you can see on the scarf that I'm wearing above). Red and white are the colours of the province of Brabant. Happily, there didn't seem to be any kind of factionalism associated with wearing town colours; some people were wearing three or more different town's colours for each place they had been during Carnaval that year. For the four-day duration of the event, the mayor hands over the keys of the town to the Prince of Carnaval who is responsible for the organisation and running of it. In 2016 this was Prince Robert the First, for his second year running.He parades through the town on the first day in his white and gold hat with big feathers, accompanied by his Council of Eleven in red and white hats.
For these four days, as in others nearby, the town takes on a different name. Tilburg is called 'Kruikestad' which means 'Bottletown'. The town adopts its Carnaval mascot. who is paraded through the street and given pride of place for four days:
At the opening ceremony, Prince Robert the First and his Council danced on stage and he even went up in a cherry picker to lead the dancing (brave man - many Carnaval parades were cancelled this year due to high winds).
I could see many traditions around Carnaval in the clothes and actions of the people around us and everyone seemed to respect it. Some people we met weren't bothered about going into town to celebrate it (they see it every year), however they all appreciated that it happens. Apart from the parade and the stage in the main square, a lot of celebrating takes place indoors in the bars and clubs - very sensible at this time of year! Those who can't get into town can watch local broadcasts of Carnaval music and interviews on the television. The Carnaval parade in Tilburg isn't as big as some, but the floats are similar. Big caricatures of people or stories in the news lampoon their targets. It reminded me of the importance of the tradition. Not only is carnival a time for fun and letting off steam, it is also when those in power can be taken to task. 'The world turned upside down' gives a licence to poke fun at influential people who might well deserve it.
We were lucky to see it. Many other towns had their parades scheduled for the next day and had to cancel as the remnants of a storm passed over. Another thing that was everywhere was the Carnaval music. It is very particular, not necessarily something I'd listen to at home every day but very positive and accessible to anyone. Especially when you are having a few beers to accompany it! One tune that stuck in my head was this one. It was made by people from Tilburg and is sung in local dialect apparently. The song is about deciding what to wear for Carnaval:
As you might be able to hear, it is fun music to drink to. In Tilburg, the local brew to do this with is Schrobbelèr, a herby-tasting liqueur.
When you have had enough to drink, there is a traditional Carnaval salute too. You need to put your hand over your shoulder and say "Alaaf!' This word is also used in Köln (Cologne) in Germany during their Carnival. It can be handy when speaking becomes problematic... Despite all the drinking though, I saw relatively few signs of trouble. Most people seemed to be local and seemed to respect the event. Many didn't believe that I was from Britain, until I said that my friend lived in the town and we were visiting him. I think that we could well have been the only British people in the town that weekend and it was great!
Thanks very much to our friends and the people of Tilburg for making us so welcome.
Insect hotels are basically compartments filled with things that insects like to hide in; dried plant stems, leaves, rotten wood etc.
I worked with Esther Coffin-Smith, the sustainability officer at Southmead hospital to give visitors, staff and patients at the hospital a chance to fill their own hotel and take it home with them.
The boxes were made in advance using exterior plywood and heavy-duty EDPM rubber. These materials were all recycled offcuts very kindly donated by the Bike Shed Company. To fill them, we had strips of recycled corrugated cardboard (which lacewings like to live in), rotten wood, bark, dried stems of cow parsley and hogweed (not hemlock), pieces of bamboo and leaves of London plane (Platanus x acerifolia).
It was great fun to create the patterns of stems and other materials and we also had twenty-nine children from St Theresa's School join us to build their own hotels to take home.
At one point, someone began to play on a nearby piano which was a very nice addition! It's the first workshop that I've run that has had Ragtime music played as an accompaniment.
The boxes each had two holes drilled into the back, so that they can be hung up in a sunny spot to attract solitary bees or a shady place for other insects.
Ideally, I would also have put metal wire mesh over the front of each box to prevent birds from pulling out the fillings looking for the insects hiding within. Obviously with large groups of children the cut metal could have caused injury, so it was thought best to leave it out of this workshop. A coat of exterior varnish on the outside of the boxes may have helped them last a bit longer outdoors as well. Thanks Esther for inviting me along for the day.
